Licensing Expo 2018 - oneLINE Resonates!

Preparation Future Drawn Style

For those who have been following the Future Drawn story, you know we got our start through our mutual love of travel, camping and pursuit of a lifestyle of living simply. In order to learn more about building sustainability into our business, we decided to drive to Las Vegas for the 2018 Licensing Expo and kick off the 2018 camping season in the desert of Utah at the same time. It may not make sense that we would spend two nights in a tent in order to prepare for the biggest investment in our fledgling business. However, I can testify getting away from civilization clears the mind and focuses the conversation to the business at hand.

We had nothing but a productive respite from the daily demands of self-employment. Jonathan was able to spend a few hours painting the scene from our campsite while we discussed our objectives for the upcoming week. We mapped out which exhibits we wanted to visit, the lectures to attend and the timing of events. We worked on our “elevator speech”. We prepared for a week of learning from the industry’s best.

Key Takeaway? The oneLINE is truly unique

At Future Drawn, we have decided to focus on Jonathan’s unique oneLINE style because we know it is very special. We have shown people from all over the world the oneLINE drawings of skylines, landmarks and houses with the same consistent acknowledgement of amazement. We were delighted that when we shared our oneLINE style to thought leaders, brand owners and influencers at the Licensing Expo 2018 we received the same positive response.

If we learned nothing else, we learned that we must pursue the oneLINE art. We have something special and nobody has seen anything like it. People suggested that we utilize Jonathan’s ability to create time-lapse videos from his oneLINE drawings to promote existing brands while we continue to build our own portfolio of images.

Licensing University - The BEST investment for beginners!

I am very grateful to my 20+ years in corporate America because in several of my roles I attended many scientific conferences. Attendance at the International Licensing Conference offered similar format to almost every scientific conference except everything was on time. The LIMA and Conference team did an amazing job with communication, timeliness and organization. We decided to pay the modest $175/person to register for the additional access to Licensing University.

Money well spent! We learned so much about the industry from the very first session all the way through to the last. Topics ranged from basic elements of licensing, and then as time progressed more advanced topics like property evaluation were taught. The Licensing University also provided a great opportunity to work with peers in the industry on real-life examples of licensor's and licensee's common struggles. We made great contacts, and learned so much!

Best in Class Art Licensing - in our opinion

One of our primary objectives was to identify the best in class example of art licensing. We wanted to understand what we needed to do to elevate our brand at Future Drawn with the oneLINE style. We visited most of the exhibits and decided that the best example of art licensing was the pairing between Kieth Herring and Coach Brands. The partnership was brokered by Artestar.

We attended the Kieth Herring exhibit at the de Young Fine Art Museum in San Francisco back in 2015 so we are familiar with his body of work. Kieth Herring’s work grew more complex and involved with his own single line style through the years. He used contour lines to create his vision without shading or two point perspective. There are enough similarities between Jonathan’s oneLINE style and Kieth Herring’s style that we can see how striking a oneLINE would be on different apparel. After identifying best in class, we know where to aim with the oneLINE.

Growing our Brand

We are almost one year into both Jonathan and I working full time for Future Drawn. We have seen our business grow from a quiet little operation into a busy working residency, consistent commissions, label design and a growing following.

We realize we are in a fortunate position as creators, brand and intellectual property owners. We have the power to shape how the viewers of Jonathan’s art interact with the world around them in new ways. The world of oneLINEs is endless.

Come Join US!

Every First Friday Future Drawn unveils yet another large scale original oneLINE at our working residency at Compris Art. Last month we celebrated Star Wars Day on May the 4th! This Friday June 1st we will have a 30” square original painting of flowers in Jonathan Applegate’s oneLINE style in celebration of Spring finally arriving in Denver. We will be at Compris Art 4420 Tennyson Street Denver from 6-9. Hope to see you then!